for the love of a dream

An excerpt from the Focus on the Family July 2008 Issue:

"Encourage children from the very beginning...It is never too late to begin encouraging your children. Young or old, they love to know you are confident of who they are. From the absurd to the surreal to the quite ordinary, a person's dreams are part of his or her identity. Don't erase them. Water them. Let them see the sunlight and stretch forth to heaven to be fertilized by God."

these are the days of noah

I love to attend weddings. I happily hopped in the Juicer to begin my long journey south and east to home sweet home. Unbeknownst to me, what lay ahead would seriously test my patience & mental breaking point. I stopped for a little Starbucks and suddently realized I had set my planner & cough drop bag on the roof of my car. I popped out to check, but 3 blocks later and the stuff was long gone. Slightly irritated, but unphased- I retraced my driving steps to discover the rumpled planner and its contents strewn about the neighbors yards. I scurried about retrieving such valuable contents as a gas coupon, father's day card, dental insurance info, father's day card envelope, and pictures of my niece and nephew. Victorious, I got back in my car and drove on with a smug grin knowing I had conquered the wind & my senior moment.

I journeyed on, singing to myself when suddenly *BAM!* the traffic came to a hault. Not to be defeated by the freeway, I quickly exited and grabbed my trusty map. Long story short, it ended up detouring me so far away from my destination that I was still in Western Wisconsin when I was suppose to be pulling into the driveway at home. To make matters worse, I ended up in the middle of flood country- stranded after trying every road. My only option- retrace my steps for the last hour and go back to the original posted detour. Feeling trapped & defeated and after two short panic attacks (hyperventilating included)- and after traversing on a Road Closed road which was missing half the asphalt from flood erosion, I made it to an unflooded road.

9 freakin' hours later & 1 Mountain Dew... I arrived at Ulao Road. (Who knew Minneapolis, MN to Grafton, WI could take the same amount of time as Minneapolis, MN to Grand Rapids, MI?!)

I wrote a new line for the song... *Ahem- clearing throat*
'And these are the days of Noah- the dry ground becoming as river... '

all things target

This Zinc lozenge I'm suckling on is nasty. It tastes like candy coated magnesium. I can feel it seeping into my body as it numbs my mouth in the process. This better make my cold better, sooner as the packaging promises, or I'm sending it right back to where it came from. Yuck.

I did a Target run yesterday to purchase some meds for my cold. As I hopped out of my car, I suddenly noticed 50 strangers staring at me. My face suddenly went flush and I thought, "Oh no, did I forget to put on pants before I left the house?" I glanced down- in a slight panic. Breathed a sigh of relief- just gauchos. That's the problem with gauchos, they are so comfy that you forget you're wearing bottoms at all. Crisis averted.

After purchasing various items, I emerged from the store with a Dove Dark chocolate bar in one hand and the new Radiohead "In Rainbows" cd clutched in my other hand. The cd- Beautifully, harmonious eclectic sounds.... poetry to my ears. :-)

senior discount dollar days

Two short stories.

Story 1-

I was a wedding guest at a beautiful, yet simple ceremony for Miss Sara Wood and Mr Aaron Bosley. As I arrived, I was greeted by happy faces and old friends. Anxious to catch up on life, I began chatting with Caitlin. At that moment, an older lady rollls up in her plush new ride (aka- her wheelchair) and startles us with her abrupt, gruffy voice reminiscient of such animated characters as Roz on Monsters Inc, or certain guidance counselor's named Miss Campbell.
Lady: "Hey, do you girls have chapstick? I really need some."
Me and Caitlin: "Uhh...no, I'm really sorry we don't have any."
Lady: "Are you sure? Because I'd pay you a dollar if I could use some of your chapstick."
Us: "No, sorry, we don't have any."
Lady: "Oh, okay. I guess I'll go ask someone else."--> rolls off

*later*
Me: "Hey Caitlin, you wanna know something? I really do have chapstick, but I wasn't gonna let some stranger who may have mouth herpes use mine."

Story 2-

As I stepped out of my house one warm June morning clutching my coffee mug, I quickly noticed the old neighbor lady tending to her lawn. On second glance, I realized she was cutting her lawn... with a weed wacker.There she was walking back & forth, here then there- chop, chop, choppin' her dandelions away. Dandelion hater.